Fancy Stancy 325is

[m42b32]

jc43089 said:

Seems to have fixed itself when it isn't miserably cold out.  Getting excited for warm weather.  Thinking about tires for summer, I don't want to break the bank, reviews on Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 are excellent and it's only 93$ in 225/50R16.  https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires.jsp?tireMake=Firestone&tireModel=Firehawk+Indy+500&sidewall=Blackwall&partnum=25WR6FHI5&tab=Sizes  

Thoughts?  I will just be ripping to work and back but I would like to try out something beyond all seasons.  I have the Wibimmers standard General Altimax Arctic for winter so cold weather is not a concern.

I have them on my e30 (205/50/16, I think I paid like $85 per tire) and for the price I'm very happy with them. They definitely run wide, at least in the size I have (not sure on other sizes), but for me that was a bonus. They're basically the same tire as the Bridgestone Potenza RE003 in Europe/rest of the world. I had them at a few auto-crosses with varying conditions last summer (pouring rain/damp/dry) and had zero complaints, surprisingly decent grip in the wet too.

[jc43089]

m42b32 said:

I have them on my e30 (205/50/16, I think I paid like $85 per tire) and for the price I'm very happy with them. They definitely run wide, at least in the size I have (not sure on other sizes), but for me that was a bonus. They're basically the same tire as the Bridgestone Potenza RE003 in Europe/rest of the world. I had them at a few auto-crosses with varying conditions last summer (pouring rain/damp/dry) and had zero complaints, surprisingly decent grip in the wet too. 

Well I got a set in 235/45R17 which is the stock size for the Volvo, I haven't driven on them a whole lot but I like them so far.  

I did some work on this, I had been cruising fanless, I like living on the edge.  I got a Spal 16" puller with the gasket and brackets.  I installed that, and took out my HID setup that was acting funky and put regular H1 halogen bulbs in my low beams.  The beam is better so I think I will stick with them.  They are Depo headlights with I assume the stock projector.

I got the old hacked off wires out of this bundle.  I wonder if I should try to figure out what the other dozen hacked off wires are...

My little guy was helping.  3 months and a little bit.  He is much more chill than the girls were.

We have been pretty much dailying this thing, yes you can fit 3 car seats in an e36 coupe, while I work on getting the Volvo ready to sell.  I don't know if it would work in a 4 door because they have to really be wedged in there.  I'll have to get a picture, it's pretty comical.

[Rekpoint]

I can verify..... He can fit 3 car seats in that bad boy.

[B C]

wow!is the middle one rear-facing?

[jc43089]

snap said:

wow!is the middle one rear-facing?

Yes, a Recaro forward facing on each side and rear facing in the middle.  You can't get the seat off of the base though.  It's snug.

[jc43089]

I did some work over the weekend, I made some aluminum rear subframe "bushings".  That was excellent for solidifying the rear end of the car.  And I also replaced all 4 of the control arm bushings/ball joints with all ball joints like the M cars have.  I have UUC poly RTAB bushings so it is tight now.  I have dimensions for the bushings if anyone needs to make their own, just message me.

Also i got new tires put on today, I got a set of the Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 in 225/50R16.  After a 60$ rebate they were 352 shipped to my door from Tirerack.  Pretty hard to beat that.  The tires I had weren't great when I bought the wheels from Pat several years ago so I sure got my money's worth out of those.  A little DIY alignment tonight and it's ready for the road trip to Elkhart Lake on Friday!

[jc43089]

Just driving it, 293k.  Recently it abruptly started taking a long time to build up oil pressure after sitting overnight.  I'm pretty sure the check valve is worn out or broken.  I ordered one of these replacements from Russia.  https://vanos-bmw.com/product/oil-valve-bmw-m50tu-m52-m52tu-m54-m56-11421713838  If you want a good chuckle read their poorly translated description, my favorite excerpt:

"As a result, when the engine heard the distinctive clip-clopping sound and on the dashboard there is a red oiler. Such failure is very dangerous for the engine, it misses in a timely manner a sufficient quantity of oil, as it takes a lot of time until the oil pump nakachatsya in a glass and gets into the engine. In the end, the start of the engine is converted for the owner into a repetitive nightmare."

I bought it through Ebay to avoid trusting my credit card with them in case their security is on par with their writing skills.

Too bad I didn't know about this when I replaced the filter housing gasket less than a year ago...

[Jdesign]

clip-clopping clippitiy clooop 

Sweiggity-swoop

swoop swoop swootpity PooP. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8IUqC59EuEY

[jc43089]

295k,

I swapped in a ZF power steering pump that I resealed, now I have power steering which is cool.

I had a fuel leak by the filter so I replaced the filter and hoses

The blower was squeaking so I removed the cowl cover thingy and the blower cover and oiled the bushings, good to go.

I swapped in a rebuilt starter, much faster cranks for better starting in cold weather (last winter needed a heat lamp under the engine and 2 stroke oil in the gas to get it going below 0)

I poured the oil out of the intake manifold that accumulates.  I think I should install a catch can...

And I also installed the Russian oil filter housing check valve.  That works really well.  Much better design and sturdier than the OE one.  No more 10 seconds of oil pressure light on every cold start.

Bought it on Ebay but this is their website, read fully for chuckles at awful translation.  https://vanos-bmw.com/product/oil-valve-bmw-m50tu-m52-m52tu-m54-m56-11421713838

[B C]

@m42b32 should have read this before starting his swap.

[m42b32]

snap said:

@m42b32 should have read this before starting his swap. 

Crap, I wish I would've known sooner... time to start putting the m42 back

[HipMF]

m42b32 said:

Crap, I wish I would've known sooner... time to start putting the m42 back

It's still sitting in my storage unit if you need it back. You might have to find a new harness though, because @GunMetalGrey harvested the C101 off of it for another project...

I'd like to crack it open to see what the inside of a 400k mile engine looks like, but I'm keeping it sealed in case I need to toss an NA motor back in the car.

If I can make the turbo downpipe bolt up to my "stock" exhaust, bouncing back and forth between turbo and NA should be a weekend project...

#epictangent #plan2fail

[GunMetalGrey]

Hi
I don't know how we got to M42's here

All your C101 are belong to me

[straight6pwr]

GunMetalGrey said:

All your C101 are belong to me

this brought me back. thanks

[SteelBlue]

straight6pwr said:

this brought me back. thanks 

I don't get it, but I find the phrasing very funny.

reminds me of this pasta:

apology for poor english

when were you when bmw dies

i was sat home drinking 5w30 when fren ring

'e30 is die'

'no'

[straight6pwr]

SteelBlue said:

I don't get it, but I find the phrasing very funny.

reminds me of this pasta:

apology for poor english

when were you when bmw dies

i was sat home drinking 5w30 when fren ring

'e30 is die'

'no'

lol that's pretty good.

'all your base' is a meme from the 90s. yes, we had memes in the 90s.

[jc43089]

GunMetalGrey said:

Hi
I don't know how we got to M42's here

All your C101 are belong to me

Can relate, that took me back a few years.  PC gaming on Battlefield 1942, Counter Strike, etc, good times.  I feel old now.

[jc43089]

I welded in rear subframe reinforcements last weekend.  It was a little cold for painting so I set up some lights to keep the paint warm.

Not beautiful with flux core wire.

And subframe ready to go back in.  The aluminum subframe bushings are great.  I wanted to weld in the reinforcements because I was noticing a fairly loud pop noise every time I cornered left hard.  I had seen a crack in the mount on one spot and temporarily welded it.  I don't think that was the problem though because the weld still looked good.  I think the inner bushings on the Maxspeeding lower control arms are garbage already and that might be the problem.

[jc43089]

Well the pop noise seems to be gone.  Something must have been flexing and now it isn't.  The inner bolt on the right lower control arm was a little loose so that could have been it too.  Next up I need to install an X brace I have laying around and new tie rods and get an actual alignment, it's tape measure close but could be better.

[jc43089]

296k I'm living large now!  I finally installed a drivers door handle I got from Glen last July at Road America.  That is a deluxe feeling to not have to open the passenger door and reach across to use the inside handle.

It is a major pain to replace though, the window regulator needs to come out and the rear window track too.  I used my rivet nut tool to install m6 inserts to reattach the window regulator.  I took the opportunity to lube the window regulators and door/trunk latches with silicone, the windows work great now.

I also used the rivet nut tool to install the m8 rivet nuts for the X brace.  I got my alignment set up well.

-1.75 camber rear

.1 degree total toe in rear

-2 camber front

.1 degree total toe in front

Other than that just ripping it up in the snow, the LSD really helps.  I'm surprised it works so well for having so many miles on it.  I did drain and fill it with Redline 75w90 a while ago.